Nostalgic Is Not One Of Them
by Deidara the Arrancar Alchemist
Summary: After Vanko's attack, disaster strikes when Tony can't recall anything that's happened in the last year. He doesn't even know he's Iron Man! Looks like it's up to poor Pepper help him remember who he really is. Future Pepperony.
1. Racetrack Drama And A Whole Lot Worse

_Hey people! Before I begin let me just say there are spoilers for Iron Man 2, and I won't be able to update very often because I've got exams coming up. A big apology for the scene cuts because even though I've seen it twice, I can't really remember all of the scenes. Oh yeah, and I obviously don't own the Iron Man franchise, I'm just here to mess around with the characters we all love so much. That's all, and please do enjoy!_

The high pitched purr of the race car engine was loud in Tony's ears, even with the helmet on. The wheels squealed as he sharply rounded the bend of the track, the noise covering the alarmed screams from the crowd that were running away. As he accelerated forward again, his hands gripped the steering wheel tighter and his eyes widened in shock.

There was a man standing right in the way! Did he have a death wish or something?! But instantly that thought was replaced with a thrill of terror. The man was bare-chested because he was wearing some sort of metal harness over his torso, a circle of suspiciously familiar light protruding from the middle of the mechanism. Two whips that crackled and spat like violent lightning dragged down from his arms.

He wouldn't be able to turn in time! He was driving straight at him, and Tony didn't have even a split second to get out of the way-

The man drew back one arm and then brought the whip smashing down just as the front of the race car skimmed past him. There was a brilliant flash of copper sparks and suddenly the front of the car was cleaved off from the rest of it, the whips slicing through it like a knife through butter. The rear of the car where Tony was still sat paralysed in flipped up into the air, and all he could see was a blur of sound and colour as the ground rushed up to meet him.

The impact was very painful and for a moment Tony blacked out as his vehicle clattered and rolled to a screeching halt. When Tony opened his eyes again, he was upside down and crushed against the asphalt track, shreds of metal littering the ground before him. With a grunt, he clumsily wrenched off his helmet and stared ahead.

The world was on its head, but Tony could see the man with the super-charged whips walking, almost strolling casually, up to him. There was a confusion of screams from the crowd as people rushed away from the scene or ran over to see what was going on.

Tony felt a painful throb in the back of his head from where he'd landed and he cursed at the ache. It took a second or two for him to refocus. He had to get out of the wreckage of his car, before those whips came down and sliced _him_ in two.

He clambered out and darted behind the burning remains of another car this guy had destroyed. But it was only a matter of time before the man (whoever the hell he was) found him and attacked again.

_Come on Pepper_ Tony thought, willing his new CEO to use her bright mind, hoping she'd come up with the same idea as him. _Hurry up, Pep, I need my Mark IV armour! _

Tony glanced up and with a jolt of fear saw a whip hissing through the air towards him-

_Some time later…_

"Palladium in the chest," Vanko called back, his voice echoing off the cold metal walls, his accent adding a sinister poison to his words. "Painful way to die."

Tony paused at the door, and tilted his head back. _Did he say what I thought he said? But how…? Who is this guy and what does he want with me?_

Tony opened his mouth to say something, then decided against it and walked out of the holding cell. The door slammed shut and rang with a deep boom, the final note of confinement. But that didn't stop Vanko from letting out a blood-curdling chuckle, his metallic teeth glinting in the dim light.

Pepper was waiting for Tony outside, fretfully smoothing down her black dress with little white polka dots. It had been torn in parts after Vanko's attack and she looked quite stressed up, but she still managed to look pretty. Pretty and angry and relieved all at once.

"Tony, what's going on here?" she asked, her cheeks flushed red.

"I don't really know at the moment, Pepper," Tony answered, ignoring the Monaco police swarming around him. "But I'm gonna find out. This guy made an arc reactor, he stole my technology."

"This is bad" Pepper groaned.

"This is _very_ bad," nodded Tony, eyes darker than usual. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I told everyone, I promised, that no one could match the technology I use for my suit for another decade. And now I have someone who used it against me mere minutes ago. Senator Stern's gonna have a real good time gloating and rubbing this in my face." He clenched a fist. "'Hand over the Iron Man weapon.' Well he can stick that up his ass, regardless of what happened today."

"It doesn't matter Tony," said Pepper, but she sounded a little doubtful. "This is just another mess we're going to have to sort out."

"Is it too big to sort out?" Tony asked, suddenly looking tired.

"Come on, your plane's waiting" Pepper said with a slight smile.

Tony had only taken one step down the shadowed corridor when it happened. He felt a sudden wave of nausea overcome him and he swayed on the spot. He uttered a small "whoa" before he righted himself.

"Tony, are you alright?" Pepper asked, a concerned frown on her face. "Do you want the medics to look you over?"

"No, no, it's fine" Tony replied, but knew he was wrong. He found it difficult to stay upright because the world around him kept shifting, as if he was out at sea in a storm, shadows and light swaying and blurring before him. The faces of the people surrounding him were pale spheres with indistinct features, and darkness was ringing his vision.

"Tony!" he heard Pepper cry, but her voice sounded muffled as if underwater, the babble of alarmed French from the police like a rushing moan.

"Just let me sit down a sec…" Tony murmured, his voice slurred. He felt a twinge in the back of his head, the same ache he'd felt from the race track. He gingerly put a hand there, wincing at the tender pain. He withdrew his hand and glossy red on his fingers swam into focus.

"Not good" he moaned, before he was swallowed by the shadows and collapsed to the ground.

_Gasp! What's gonna happen to Tony? Well, from the summary you can kinda guess, but ah well. Hope you enjoyed it so far!_


	2. You Know I Hate Hospitals

_Whoop! A new update! But after this I won't be able to do anymore, so please bear with me. But anyway, I hope you all enjoy it._

The clotted darkness before Tony's eyes kept dragging him back under, making him lethargic to the bones and unwilling to wake up. But that soft white light was persistent and penetrated through the gloom, and it was growing brighter and brighter and-

_Argh, too bright!_

Tony squeezed his eyes shut against the fierce glare and moaned hoarsely. The illumination was harsh and electrical and it tickled his eyelids, trying to pry them apart. Sounds and smells began to infiltrate his foggy mind: a series of mechanical beeps that grew quicker as they rose with his stressed up heartbeat; a low hum of air conditioning that brushed his skin, the sharp smell of disinfectant and soap with an underlying stinky human odour; and someone saying something…

"Tony!"

Tony groggily focused on that noise. It sounded sluggish and warped, but he tried to make sense of the syllables and thread them together. Toe-knee? What was a toe-knee?

_No, dumbass!_ he thought, mentally slapping himself. _That's my name. But I don't recognise the voice. Who's calling me?_

"Tony Stark, wake up right now before your poor PA does it herself!"

Ah, that was definitely Pepper. A tiny twitch of his lips revealed a smirk. He slowly opened his eyes and blinked hard several times. Everything appeared glossy as if a fine sheet of petrol had been smeared over his vision, the room teetering a few times before standing still. Pepper's blurry outline appeared before him, her fiery hair a smudge of vivid orange around her face. She had her hair down: she never, well didn't usually have her hair like that. Tony thought it suited her better, but suddenly his vision cleared and she was scowling at him, a spot of colour rising in her cheeks and dark shadows sweeping under her gorgeous eyes.

"Hey, Pepper," said Tony, his voice a little croaky. "You look pretty stressed."

"Of course I'm stressed!" she replied fiercely, sucking in a breath. "I'm on the edge right now, Tony! Look at this!" She snatched a clump of her hair and shoved it before Tony's startled eyes. "I'm getting grey hair through worrying about you and the company and everything else!"

"But it's your job to worry about your amazingly hot and intelligent boss" he grinned. "I'm sure we discussed that when you signed up as my PA, but maybe you were too dazzled by me to focus properly."

This didn't exactly help. "Don't try and be funny with me, Tony" she said with clenched fists. "This is serious. You could have died! This is the last time you're going to get away with doing something insane and-"

"Wait, wait, hold it right there," interrupted Tony, raising his hands. He rose and eyebrow and said "What did you say about me dying?"

Pepper paused blinked in confusion. She opened her mouth to say something, but Tony cut her off.

"I'm in a hospital, aren't I?" he said, examining the private ward with both interest and dislike. He absorbed the pale walls and the sunlight pressed against the blinds drawn over the curtains; the metal frame of the bed and the bedside cabinet with his cell phone, car keys and a glass of water on. "You know I hate hospitals, Pep, why'd you send me to one?" He glanced down and wrinkled his nose at the cotton hospital gown. "And whoever put me in the ridiculously embarrassing … thing will be sued for allowing a distinguished guy like me to wear one. I mean this" – he indicated the gown – "does not mix with this"- pointed to his face, which although pale still looked rather attractive to Pepper, who quickly shook such thoughts from her head.

She brushed a strand of hair behind her ear and fidgeted in the seat brought close up to the bedside. "How are you feeling?"

_Ah, she's dropped the anger and she's in with the concern _Tony thought. He paused before replying. "Hmm, my body aches so I guess I have a couple of nasty bruises, but no casts or anything so I hoping that means no broken bones. Think I've got a few cuts on me, but nothing major. My head hurts a bit and I feel dizzy. Oh yeah, and I'm hungry and will kill for a cheeseburger right now."

"I'll see if I can arrange something" Pepper smiled.

"Make sure it's not that hospital stuff, that mush that they call "food" is just gross."

"Shall I smuggle in something from Burger King?"

Tony grinned. "What would I do without you, Pepper?"

"Probably not a lot" Pepper smirked.

"Now, you didn't answer my question about me dying" said Tony, becoming a bit more serious.

"You cut over me and I didn't have time to answer" Pepper explained.

"Well, tell me now."

Pepper leaned in closer. "A man attacked you on the race track. He had your technology."

Tony frowned. "Clarify" he pressed.

Pepper frowned a little in return. "He had an arc reactor, but it wasn't in a suit. He had these whip things that looked super-charged and gave the Mark IV quite a beating, but you managed to stop him before he… hurt you."

Tony scrutinized Pepper for a long moment. "Are you high?"

Pepper jerked in surprise at the question. "I-I'm sorry?"

"Because it's really not professional or healthy to be taking drugs, Pepper," Tony said softly but with a hint of a smirk. "I might have to fire you, or send you to rehab."

"I am not on drugs!" Pepper protested, but she was confused. "Why would you think that?"

Tony chuckled once. "Because I haven't the faintest clue what you're on about."

Pepper froze. "What?" she exclaimed.

"Pepper, why are you talking about a race track and suits and arc reactor technology?" Tony asked. "Next you'll tell me I'm on the Moon."

"We're in Monaco" said Pepper, feeling a twinge of alarm and anxiety. What was going on with him?

Tony frowned in puzzlement. "Monaco? Monaco, what am I doing in Monaco? Last time I checked I was in Afghanistan."

Pepper felt her blood turn to ice. No, no it couldn't be. "Afghanistan?" she murmured breathlessly.

"Yeah, I was doing a weapons' demonstration earlier," Tony explained. "Of the Jericho missile, y'know the big new one. And then…" Tony closed his eyes and his brow furrowed in concentration. Then he snapped them open and they bulged in their sockets. "The terrorists! They attacked the Hummer and they have my weapons! All the soldiers are dead!"

"Tony, Tony calm down!" Pepper cried, laying a hand on his shoulder. He turned to face her and gasped raggedly. "Take a deep breath." Tony did so, then leaned back against the pillows. "It's OK, you're fine." She stroked his forehead and ran her fingers through his dark hair, then followed the curve of his face. She stopped when she realised what she was doing. _Get a grip, girl_ she told herself, fighting down the flutter in her chest as she reluctantly withdrew her touch from his skin.

Tony smirked. "Thanks, Nurse Pepper. You know, I would feel much better if you dressed up as-"

"No, Tony" she scolded, but her voice contained very little annoyance. She was a little scared and overwhelmingly concerned. If she believed what Tony was saying to be true, than that meant something was wrong. Very wrong.

"So, is the terrorist attack the last thing you remember?" she said, trying to keep the slight tremor from her voice.

"Yeah. A missile hit me and I got blasted away. There was some pain in my chest, but then after that I can't remember anything." He shook his head.

Pepper gasped. "Oh dear God. This is… this is awful!" She leapt to her feet, snatched up her handbag and strode away.

"Hey, where are you going?" Tony called. "You can't leave me here!"

"I'm going to get the doctor, Tony," she replied. "You stay right there, I'll be right back."

Tony slumped against the pillows and scowled.

_Ah, end of another chapter. As I said before, I might not be able to update any time soon, but I'll try. Please tell me if Tony and Pepper are in character and if I can improve on anything. Thanks :) _


	3. Retrograde Amnesia, Whatever That Is

_Alright people, here's chapter three! Now that exams are over, I can update more frequently! Once again, thanks for all your lovely reviews, I appreciate them very much! Seeing that I'm no doctor, please inform me if any of this medical knowledge is incorrect. _

"It would appear Mr Stark is suffering from amnesia" said the doctor gravelly.

"Oh God…!" Pepper groaned, massaging her temples, her worst fears confirmed. She glanced over to where Tony was sat up in bed just out of ear-shot. He was staring into space, delving deep into some probably super intelligent thoughts. Her heart beat faster and contorted with worry.

"It appears to have been caused by a post-traumatic injury to the head, after the events on the racetrack," continued the doctor. "We fear it may be retrograde amnesia."

"But what does that mean exactly?" Pepper pressed.

"It means he's suffering long term memory loss. He won't be able to remember anything that's happened recently."

If Tony had lost all his memory up to, as he said, the terrorist attack, that meant he didn't know he was Iron Man! He didn't know about what had happened when he'd been kidnapped for 3 months; didn't know that he'd killed Obadiah Stane, his once-trusted friend; didn't know about the Expo and all his new inventions. And – Pepper felt something click in her throat – he didn't know who he was anymore, who he _really _was. Would he revert back to his old, selfish, playboy ways?

Pepper bit her lower lip. "Is there anything you can do to help him?"

"I'm sorry," the doctor answered with a shake his head. "There's nothing."

"Nothing?" Pepper cried, but then lowered her voice again when she thought she saw Tony glance her way. "At all?"

"I think if there was a way that Mr Stark could regain his memories," the doctor said thoughtfully. "Then you have to find something that would trigger his memory, maybe looking at something from before the amnesia."

"Right" Pepper nodded, her brain working furiously. "Thanks."

She took a deep breath and walked up to Tony, her heels clicking purposefully on the shiny floor as she marched over to the bed. Tony didn't realise she was there when she sat down again on the edge of her seat, so she had to say "Tony?" She would have said Mr Stark in normal situations, but this was anything but normal. Besides, this was a time to be personal, not professional.

His eyes lost their glassiness and he smiled slightly when he turned to face her. "Oh, sorry, I was just thinking."

"What about?" Pepper asked. Had he remember something? She leaned forward slightly in expectancy.

"Just trying to decide which of my nurses was hotter, but it's kind of a hard decision because one of them is has perfect legs, but the other has a great pair of-"

"Tony!" Pepper sighed.

"What?" he protested. "Isn't the boss supposed to be the one who yells at their assistant, and not the other way around?" He looked hard at her a moment then frowned. "Potts?"

Ah, that was another thing he wouldn't remember. He still thought she was his PA, and didn't know she'd become CEO of Stark Industries. That was going to be hard to explain.

"Potts?" Tony repeated. "Pepper, what's wrong? You're starting to freak me out."

Pepper sighed and ran a hand through her light ginger hair. "Do you know how much has passed since you were in Afghanistan?" she said softly.

He paused for a moment, looking up and chewing his lower lip. "No idea. Thrill me."

She took a deep breath and said. "7 months."

There was a long gasp of silence broken only by the steady tick of the clock above the bed. Somewhere outside a door slammed, echoing as loud as a gunshot in the calm.

Tony whistled through his teeth. "Whoa. That's…that's quite some time." He chuckled, but there was no humour in it. The wideness of his eyes betrayed how shocked he really was. "Wait, are you saying I've been unconscious for 7 months?"

"No, just for the last hour, I…" Pepper's voice faltered. "You've got amnesia, Tony."

"Oh crap," Tony groaned, his shoulders sagging. "Just my luck."

Pepper felt a flash of something warm inside her and her hand instinctively reached out and touched his knuckles. They both gasped softly and Pepper withdrew her hand as if a spark had snapped her fingers. He turned to face her, and Pepper was alarmed at the intensity in his eyes. She'd known him for years and had learned all of his expressions and what they meant by heart, as familiar to her as her own. But now, he was unreadable. He was harbouring a storm of emotion.

A slow smile crept up her lips that shone with gloss. "It's going to OK, Tony. I'll make sure of it."

Tony returned the smile. "I know. That's why I need you."

Pepper felt heat in her cheeks. A faint but fond memory returned to her: a long time ago in the mansion's basement, just her and Tony, her hands covered in pus – no, wait, discharge from the arc reactor.

"So, tell me what have I missed?" Tony asked.

"Oh…," she said. "The problem is where to start."

"The beginning would be helpful. Look, I've got 7 months of memory to regain, and I really want it back."

"Right," Pepper nodded. "I suppose I'd better start off after the terrorists attacked you."

"Please do."

"Now, I don't really know all the details," Pepper cautioned. "So, you're going to have to remember them yourself. Can you do that?"

"Sure, I'm not totally helpless."

Pepper paused, gathering the right words.

"The terrorists, known as the Ten Rings, they took you hostage. You were injured quite badly, but someone called Yinsen, I think, helped you."

Yinsen. It was a name Tony had yelled out during numerous nightmares. Pepper had often shivered listening to the worry and pain in his voice before he woke up with a jolt. When Pepper came in to tackle back the nightmares armed with a glass of brandy and a comforting hand on his shoulder, he'd told her of his time in captivity. His face sometimes looked haggard in the pool of warm yellow light cast by a bed-side lampshade. Pepper was always sat astounded by his story, and marvelled at his strength, both mentally and physically. It was brief times like those when the line between boss and assistant was crossed and you stepped into friendship territory.

"What do you mean by help?" Tony asked.

"For one thing, he took most of the shrapnel out of your chest-"

"Ouch, I remember that," Tony interrupted with a wince. "I wonder how bad it really was…?"

He glanced down, and Pepper gasped, knowing what was going to happen. "Tony, don't!"

Too late. He pulled down the neck of the hospital gown and examined his chest.

And screamed.

_Yeah, I know, short and crappy chapter. But I've been kinda busy with other projects .Please tell me what you think and any improvements I can make. _:)


	4. A Spot Of Turbulance

_So sorry guys! I haven't updated in AGES! I've been so mean to you all, but college is pretty dang hard and I've had no time. _

_ARGH! Major mistake! I've only just realised that if Tony can't remember making the suit, then it would be at least a year's worth of memory lost, not 7 months! (No wonder I got a low grade in math.) But let's just pretend it's written as 12 months in the previous chapters because I'm not bothered to go back and edit it.  
If there's anything you think needs improving or something that isn't right, don't hesitate to tell me. _

"Stop playing with that!" Pepper insisted for the umpteenth time, rolling her eyes as she saw him peer down his shirt and gently prod the device in his chest.

"At least I'm not playing with something else" Tony retorted with a flicker of a playful smirk.

Pepper's mouth opened and closed, her tongue trying to find something to say back. She just huffed and crossed her arms, leaning back against the leather seat and pretending the faint blush rising to her cheeks didn't exist. "…childish" she muttered under her breath.

They were in Tony Stark's private jet heading back home. Right now they were half way over the Atlantic Ocean, with pale shredded clouds pressing against the thick glass windows and being snagged on the flared wings of the craft. Honey-yellow afternoon sunlight rolled over the plane's smooth metal body as they flew westwards.

The doctors had seen it fit to discharge Tony the next day, as his injuries had only been minor and he was healing up nicely. Of course, the amnesia issue was a serious problem, but there wasn't anything the doctors could do about it. And seeing that he was physically fine, there was no point in keeping him cooped up in hospital. Tony was very happy to be rid of the place and the humiliating hospital gown.

Tony leaned back in his chair with a faint crease between his brows, pinching the bridge of his nose and squinting his eyes. Sunlight washed over his face and Pepper was startled to see how old he suddenly looked. Old and exhausted.

She felt a tingle in her brain. Something was up. She'd known him long enough to read the subtlest changes on his face, his posture, the way he talked. It was obvious at the moment that he was troubled and down right pissed off about his memory loss, but she looked beyond that and saw that something else wasn't right. Something he ought to be telling her.

"Tony?" she asked softly. "Is something wrong?"

"Just tired" he replied with a ghost of a smile.

"You know you can tell me anything."

"I said I'm fine!" he snapped back, his hand lingering over his chest.

Pepper's eyes darted to the spot where the arc reactor was slotted into his torso. Her mind flashed back to the hospital, when Tony had pulled down his hospital gown and exposed the softly glowing device in all its high-tech glory. Although it was still a little unnerving to see the brilliant, metallic reactor against his human flesh, Pepper was quite accustomed to the sight of it now.

But she was definitely not accustomed to the maze of livid cobalt lines flaring out from his chest. The ominous, bruise-blue veins bulged out against his skin and crawled up his neck and down his arms, poisonous to the eye. And what was more, the reactor itself seemed to be corroding around the edges, decaying and dying. Pepper had alerted the doctors about the strange blue lines all over Tony's upper body, but they said it was nothing to worry about.

Yeah, right. The anxiety in their eyes had told her that they didn't want to admit it was beyond their knowledge to identify the problem, let alone cure it.

Pepper was not a medical expert but even she could see that something was awfully wrong. Those lines seemed deadly, unnatural, painful. It had clearly worried Tony - because as soon as he'd seen them his eyes had widened and he'd quickly covered them back up again. And if something worried Tony it was bound to be bad. She had pressed him for what was wrong, but he had said, like the doctors, that it was nothing to worry about. It happened every now and again, he had said.

Pepper didn't think it did. Her stomach contorted in miserable concern. It seemed all she did these days was worry about her ex-boss. _Ah Tony, you'll be the death of me._

"So" said Tony, breaking the silence.

"So, what?" Pepper asked, crossing one slender leg over the other.

"What happened next?"

"Excuse me?"

"Come on Pepper, get with the picture," Tony said. "What happened after I was nearly blown to pieces in Afghanistan?"

"Oh, right," Pepper answered, sitting up straighter. "Well, like I said earlier, another captive called Yinsen helped you. You said that you made the reactor and he… inserted it into you. Without him, you would have been dead."

She glanced at the floor. She remembered how awful it had been when she thought he'd been killed by the Ten rings. Those three months of waiting for his return had seemed like an age. She was thankful there had been someone like Yinsen to rescue Tony from the clutches of death, and it was a shame he hadn't survived too.

"Ah-huh," Tony said, seeming impatient "I just want to know how I escaped. I bet it was some ingenious plan, no wait, it _was_ some ingenious plan, seeing that we're talking about me."

Pepper was momentarily taken aback by his insensitivity, but continued with the story. "Yes, I guess you could say it was an ingenious plan. In fact, I don't think you could have escaped any other way."

Tony smirked and rested his chin on his hand.

"You built a suit" she said.

"What, like a tux suit, or…?"

"No, no," she interrupted. "Like a machine suit."

"A machine suit?" Tony said, raising an eyebrow incredulously.

"Oh I don't know!" she protested. She rubbed her forehead and sighed. "This would be a lot easier if you already knew what happened."

"Er, well, technically I did know what already happened, I just forgot."

Pepper resisted letting out an irritated "ugh!" but she pursed her lips. For some reason, Tony was being so infuriating today. More than usual.

"Well when we get back to the mansion you can see for yourself" she muttered.

She felt a gentle vibration beside her hip and reached into her stylish bag and withdrew her Blackberry. She sighed roughly when she scanned the message from the press, demanding to know what had happened at the Monaco racetrack so they could feed the public's hunger for gossip. She rapidly tapped in a formally rude reply, her fingers dashing over the tiny keys in a blue of dark nail polish. A second after she sent the reply, a dozen more messages appeared simultaneously. She scowled and switched her Blackberry off; she really wasn't in the mood for this bullshit.

Just then, an air hostess (_or perhaps a classy hooker_ Pepper thought sullenly) sauntered up to Tony and flashed up a fake, lip-gloss laced, Barbie smile. She seemed to lean down enough so that Tony had a good view of her ample cleavage, which of course he couldn't take his eyes off. Pepper felt a muscle twitch in her eye.

"We'll be landing shortly, sir. Please fasten your seatbelt and prepare for touchdown."

"Whatever you say, honey" he answered with the charming grin that would send feverish shivers down your back. He'd never looked at Pepper that way.

The air hostess battered her fake eyelashes and walked back off the way she came, making a great effort to swing her hips more than usual. Tony admired her curvaceous behind until she was gone.

As he leaned back in his chair and belted up, he caught Pepper's downcast and angry expression. "What?" he said innocently.

"You know what" she muttered, fiercely tugging her seat belt across her waist.

Tony snorted. "There's nothing wrong with appreciating the view. Especially such a nice view."

"That's not all that was on your mind" she snapped back. She knew with a sinking heart that she would have to "take out the trash" tomorrow. Wait, a sinking heart? No, no she certainly didn't have any romantic attachments to Tony Stark, of all people.

"Jeez, Pepper what's your problem?" Tony asked.

"My problem is _you_" she retorted back.

"_I'm_ your problem?" he griped. "I haven't done anything wrong!"

"Oh no, because the sun shines out of Tony Stark's ass!" she spat back, an angry blush staining her cheeks.

"Oh, oh oh, that really hurt my feelings," Tony yelled back, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Well you know what, maybe _my_ problem is-!"

"Er, am I interrupting something?" said a hesitant voice.

Tony and Pepper's heads both whipped around to see Happy Hogan peering in through the archway.

"Oh, no, it's fine, Happy" said Pepper, smoothing down her skirt.

"Yeah, it's cool," Tony added. "Go buckle up, we're landing soon."

Happy glanced back and forth between the two of them, and then with a nod he turned and left.

There was a long awkward silence. Neither looked at each other.

"Sorry, Pep."

She looked up at him and saw sincerity in his dark eyes. "Me too," she sighed. "That was -"

"Unprofessional?" he offered with a slight smirk.

"Yes, very much so."

"I don't know what's wrong with me recently," he murmured quietly, more to himself than Pepper. "Everything is just so confusing, so muddled. I just wish everything made sense…"

"It will do, Tony" Pepper said softly, reaching forward to touch his hand. It was warm against her touch.

"I really hope so, Pepper," he said. "Because I have the feeling that something really bad is going to happen, and I'm going to regret having my memories."

_Ta-dah? Sorry it wasn't much, and it's probably not very good standard. But hey,at least I updated! I hope you enjoyed it :D_


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